Having travelled through South Tyrol and Northern Italy on regional trains recently I was enchanted by the huge swathes of vines clutching their narrow terraces and sometimes appearing so close it appeared we were travelling through them.
There is something about a vineyard that makes people slow down. The rows of vines follow the shape of the land, the low vines nestle into the terroir, and there is always a sense that this place has been looked after by the same families for generations. For a wedding or an elopement, that feeling of care and continuity is a lovely thing to stand within, and it is one of the reasons couples are drawn to wine regions from the Rhinelands in Bavaria, through to the steep valleyed slopes in Switzerland to the Atlantic coast of Portugal.
Over the past fifteen years I have been lucky enough to conduct ceremonies in several of Europe’s wine-growing regions. In this post I want to share some of those places with you, along with two regions I would love to work in and a venue in Portugal that has recently stood out to me and is on my bucket list!
Whether you are dreaming of a celebration with all your family around you or an intimate elopement for just the two of you, I hope it gives you some ideas and a little permission to dream.
Why vineyards make such welcoming wedding settings
A vineyard wedding gives you more than a beautiful backdrop. Most wine estates are used to welcoming visitors, so there is a natural rhythm of hospitality built in, from a tasting the evening before to a long lunch the day after. Your guests have something to enjoy beyond the ceremony and the meal, and for couples bringing families together from different countries, those shared experiences are often where new and binding connections are made.
Many estates also have spaces of very different sizes, so a terrace among the vines can suit a ceremony for twelve as well as one for a hundred.
Lake Geneva and the Swiss vineyards
Switzerland may be better known for its mountains, but the land around Lake Geneva is home to some of the country’s oldest vineyards. I have married couples in Geneva, where the vineyards of Satigny, the largest wine-growing commune in Switzerland, sit just outside the city. Further along the lake between Lausanne and Montreux, the terraced vineyards of Lavaux, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, step down towards the water with the Alps on the far shore. It is a setting that feels calm and grand at the same time, and it suits couples who would love the lake and the mountains in their photographs, with a glass of local Chasselas afterwards.
Riquewihr and the Alsace Wine Route
Riquevihr is one of the villages along the Alsace Wine Route, and it holds a special place for me because I conducted an elopement there for J and S who are featured below. Their elopement highlight reel is on my Real Weddings and Elopements page.
The village sits among gently rolling vineyards, with its fortified church of Saint-Jacques looking out over the vines, and the timber-framed houses look as though they have stepped out of a storybook – indeed it is known as the setting that inspired the fairytale Beauty and The Beast.
Alsace has lived between French and German culture for centuries, so it feels like a very natural home for a bilingual ceremony. For couples who want something intimate and quietly romantic, with a glass of Riesling or Gewurztraminer to celebrate, it is a place I recommend with all my heart.
The Rhine and the Mosel
Closer to my home in Germany, the Rhine and the Mosel offer vineyard landscapes full of drama and history. I have conducted weddings near Bingen, where the Rhine turns north into its famous gorge, and at Burg Rheinstein, a castle perched on the rocks above the river in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, another UNESCO World Heritage landscape. Steep vineyards climb the slopes on either side, boats glide by below, and the castles along the banks make you feel as though you have stepped into the pages of a legend.
On the Mosel, Traben-Trarbach has a charm of its own, with elegant Art Nouveau buildings along the river and Riesling vineyards rising behind the town.
A little further along the river, beside Bernkastel-Kues, Schloss Lieser is a late nineteenth-century palace standing among the vineyards on the riverbank, now a hotel with rooms for weddings and celebrations. I conducted a wedding there last Christmas, and its elegant interiors and views across the Mosel made a beautiful setting for a winter celebration.
These regions suit couples who love history and romance, and they are easy to reach for guests flying into Frankfurt or Trier.
Tuscany around Siena
Tuscany needs very little introduction, and my ceremonies near Siena showed me why couples return to it again and again. The hills of Chianti, the cypress-lined roads and the warm stone of the old farmhouses create a setting that feels relaxed and generous.
Many Tuscan estates still produce their own wine and olive oil, so long dinners under the stars come naturally, and guests often stay for several days and make a holiday of it.
The Ceremony for S and B was hosted at the exceptional Villa Cetinale just outside Siena.
South Tyrol and the Eisack Valley
South Tyrol is a region I have grown very fond of, and not only for it’s amazing mountain peaks of the Dolomites range.
Around Brixen, in the Eisack Valley, vineyards grow on sunny slopes beneath the mountains, and the Augustinian abbey at Neustift just outside the town has been making wine for centuries. I have also officiated emotional and heartfelt elopements near Toblach, or Dobbiaco, where the lakes and the Dolomite peaks bring a very different, alpine kind of beauty.
South Tyrol speaks both German and Italian, which makes it a lovely fit for international couples and bilingual couples, and you can enjoy crisp mountain air, fresh white wines and scrumptious Italian cuisine in every season.
Two wine regions on my wish list
I have not yet conducted ceremonies in these two regions, but both have a long winemaking heritage and estates that welcome couples and their guests with real warmth. I would love to be part of a celebration in either of them.
The Wachau, Austria
Along the Danube between Melk and Krems, the Wachau is one of Austria’s renowned wine regions, and the whole valley is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Terraced vineyards, apricot orchards, medieval villages and the baroque abbey at Melk line the river, and Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are the wines to try. For German-speaking families and international guests alike, it offers an elegant, unhurried setting within easy reach of Vienna.
Schloss Dürnstein, a five-star hotel in a baroque castle above the Danube, welcomes weddings in its historic rooms and offers tastings of local wines, a spa and boat trips for guests.
Further upriver, Schloss Luberegg, a former imperial Habsburg residence facing Melk Abbey, has been lovingly restored as a wedding venue, with gardens and fountains for a ceremony outdoors and elegant rooms for the celebration inside.
It would be a total pleasure to officiate at either or both of these!
The Langhe, Piedmont, Italy
In the hills of north-west Italy, the Langhe is home to Barolo – one of my all time favourite wines – and Barbaresco, and its vineyard landscapes were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Hilltop villages, castles and rolling rows of Nebbiolo vines give it a quieter, more intimate feel than Tuscany, and in autumn the region celebrates its white truffle season.
I can picture it for couples who love good food, good wine and the slow pleasure of a long table shared with the people they care for most and want present to witness their wedding or elopement.
Castello di Guarene, an eighteenth-century palace in the neighbouring Roero hills that is now a Relais & Châteaux hotel, looks out over the Langhe vineyards and hosts weddings among its frescoed rooms and formal gardens.
Near Bra, Albergo dell’Agenzia sits within its own historic park and offers an elegant, romantic setting for a celebration in the heart of the Langhe and Roero.
Quinta Vale da Roca Wedding Venue, Sintra, Portugal
I was recently introduced to Quinta Vale da Roca Wedding Venue – a boutique vineyard hotel near Sintra on the Portuguese coast, and it is a venue I would love to officiate at!
Set among vineyards overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, it has a relaxed but elegant feel, and the team clearly care about how their guests feel as much as how the day looks. Alongside weddings and events, the Quinta offers wine tastings and other experiences, so your guests can gather before the wedding or linger afterwards, and your celebration becomes something you can share over several days.
Images of Quinta Vale da Roca Wedding Venue are shared with kind permission of the venue.
In conversation with the Quinta’s director, Dennerson, what stood out to me was how closely his view of weddings matches my own. For the team there, a wedding is about bringing people together and creating a place where everyone feels at home, with the vineyards and the ocean as the setting and the people at the heart of it. That is exactly how I feel about ceremonies.
Portugal is a country more and more couples are discovering, with its beautiful coastline, warm hospitality and good value compared with some other destinations in southern Europe.
Sintra itself, with its palaces and forested hills, is a short drive from Lisbon airport, which makes travel straightforward for international guests. And as an English Celebrant in Europe, I would be delighted to create a beautiful ceremony for you and your guests!
A few things to think about when planning a vineyard wedding
When to go
Late summer and early autumn bring the harvest, which can add a wonderful atmosphere, though it is also the busiest time of year for a wine estate, so it is worth asking how weddings fit around it. Spring and early summer offer fresh green vines and gentler temperatures.
In most of the countries mentioned here, a celebrant-led ceremony is symbolic, and the legal part of your marriage takes place separately at a registry office, either at home or locally. This gives you complete freedom to shape your ceremony around your story, in English or in English and German, and I am always happy to talk you through the options.
Weather and comfort
Vineyards are often on slopes and in the open, so ask about shade, a wet weather option and how easy the ceremony space is to reach for older guests or anyone with mobility needs. Letting guests know to bring comfortable shoes for walking between the vines is a kindness to everyone.
The legal side
In most of the countries mentioned here, a celebrant-led ceremony is symbolic, and the legal part of your marriage takes place separately at a registry office, either at home or locally. This gives you complete freedom to shape your ceremony around your story, in English or in English and German, and I am always happy to talk you through the options.
Experiences for your guests
Ask what the estate offers beyond the ceremony, such as tastings, cellar tours, dinners or walks through the vineyards. These shared moments often become the memories your guests talk about long afterwards.
Finding your place among the vines
Wherever your heart is drawn, a vineyard offers a setting that is rooted in its landscape and made for sharing. If you are dreaming of a ceremony among the vines, whether in a region I know well or somewhere new to both of us, I would love to hear about your plans and help you create a ceremony that feels complete and authentically yours.
If you have a date in mind, or even just a season and a place, I would love to hear from you. You can book a call with me here, or send me a message and we will find a time that suits you.
I’m Yvonne, a bilingual celebrant based in Germany and working across the UK and Europe. For fifteen years I’ve been crafting personal, meaningful ceremonies for couples who want their day to feel entirely their own, whether that means a grand celebration or a quiet elopement in the mountains.